New York City to ban curbside deliveries during peak hours at key locations

Truckers making deliveries in New York City will be restricted to what times they can conduct business. Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced a series of initiatives to combat traffic congestion in the Big Apple.

Among the five-step plan is an effort to test curb access restrictions on two major commercial corridors and in a zone within Manhattan, according to a news release from the mayor’s office. Affected areas will ban curbside loading on both sides of the street from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Among the affected areas:

Manhattan (Midtown) — the zone bounded by Sixth Avenue to the west, Madison Avenue to the east, 45th Street to the south and 50th Street to the north;

Additional NYPD staff will be assigned to the locations to enforce the new restrictions. The pilot program will go into effect in January and will run for six months. If proven the successful, the program will extend to additional corridors.

Deliveries and ‘clear lanes’Another initiative will create “clear lanes” in 11 crosstown streets in Midtown. The city will allow deliveries on one side of the street while the other side will have signs indicating no standing from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Among those areas:

60th and 59th Streets (Fifth to Second Avenue);

58th Street (Lexington to Second Avenue);

54th Street (Eighth to Third Avenue);

53rd Street (Ninth to Third Avenue);

50th and 49th Streets (Ninth to Third Avenue);

47th and 46th Streets (Ninth to Third Avenue); and

37th and 36th Streets (Sixth to Second Avenue).

NYPD will double its Traffic Enforcement Agents in those areas for moving and parking violations, double parking and off-route trucks.

Clearing intersectionsAddressing issues with blocking an intersection, referred to as “block the box,” New York City will beef up enforcement of drivers who enter intersections without sufficient space at 50 intersections. The New York City Department of Transportation will install block-the-box markings and update signs at those locations.

An additional 50 NYPD uniformed officers will be hired to enforce block-the-box rules. Officers will target approximately 30 intersections in Manhattan and about 20 intersections outside Manhattan.

New York City also will be working with state and local elected officials to address congestion on the highways outside of the city’s jurisdiction. Task forces utilizing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York State Department of Transportation and the Port Authority will work together to improve congestion on highways and certain choke points. Work will begin with the Cross Bronx Expressway and the Staten Island Expressway/Verrazano-Narrows Bridge/Gowanus Expressway corridor and may expand to the Long Island Expressway.

The congestion reduction plan will apply the work of Department of Transportation, NYPD, the Taxi and Limousine Commission, the Economic Development Corporation, the Department of Design and Construction and the Department of Finance.

“New Yorkers have been telling me loud and clear about the quality-of-life problems created by traffic where they live and work,” de Blasio said in statement. “With a targeted effort to help clear travel lanes, delivery zones, intersections and highways, these initiatives will address these concerns head-on, using established and new tools that will keep our City moving, from midtown to all of our neighborhoods .”

Targeting trucks is nothing new for New York City. Legislation specific to trucks and enforcement of those rules was proposed in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016.